Thursday

Nearly a year to the day that a young woman from the Attleboro area was killed in a rollover crash on I-495 in Raynham, tragedy struck again on Wednesday night.

RAYNHAM — The carsh that killed a Bridgewater State University cheerleader on Interstate 495 in Raynham Wednesday night came almost a year to the date of another fatal rollover the stretch of road.

Hayley Sandford, 19, a sophomore at BSU, was killed after being ejected from her Jeep onto a median on I-495. She was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital, where she had been taken by Medflight, according to Massachusetts State Police.

Sanford's cheer team will be on the sidelines on Friday night for a home football game against Fitchburg State University, and the school has announced it would observe a moment of silence prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff.

The crash occurred almost a year to the date of another fatal rollover crash involving a young woman from the Attleboro area on I-495 in Raynham. On Sept. 25, 2015, Alexis Felix of North Attleboro was killed near the Route 24 connection.

Sanford was driving a 2002 Jeep Wrangler southbound on 495 Wednesday when she changed lanes and collided with a Honda CRV driven by a 76-year-old New Bedford woman, State Police said. Sanford's Jeep rolled over in the center median, while the Honda drove through the center median and across all northbound lanes of traffic, according to a preliminary investigation.

The crash, which occurred just south of Route 138, remains under investigation by State Police.

A Bridgewater Fire department ambulance took Sanford to the landing zone at the Raynham Dog Track, while a Raynham ambulance took the driver of the other vehicle to Morton Hospital in Taunton. The 76-year-old woman had minor injuries, Raynham Fire Chief James Januse said.

Sanford, a transfer from Bristol Community College, had only been a Bridgewater State student for two weeks.

"Although new to Bridgewater, Hayley already had become deeply involved in our community as a member of the BSU cheerleading club team," Peggy Jablonski, Bridgewater State's interim vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, said in a statement to the university community. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Hayley¹s family and friends, including her parents, Sharon and Russell, and to the members and coaches of BSU's cheerleading squad."

Sanford, a sophomore who studied management at BSU, was a 2014 graduate of Seekonk High School. Her father, Russell, is an Attleboro firefighter.

Sanford is the third Bridgewater State student to die since June, according to university officials. In response, the school announced its counseling center inside of Weygand Hall would be open for drop-in hours Thursday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Funeral arrangements made through Duffy-Poule Funeral Home in Attleboro have not been finalized, according to the university.

The East Bridgewater Vikings cheer squad tweeted support to the university's team in their time of tragedy.

"Our hearts go out to the BSU cheer team as they mourn the loss of teammate Hayley Sanford," the tweet read. "May angels lead you in."

Staff writer Charlie Peters can be reached at Cpeters@enterprisenews.com

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